Grant helps create calming space for children
Grant helps create calming space for children

Grant helps create calming space for children

From the moment, you step into Otis’ Cave at the Okanagan Similkameen Neurological Society Child and Youth Development Centre, you immediately feel at ease.

The cave is lit with a large bubble tube, which emits a calm blue light as bubbles gently float up and down. Plush cushions and fibre-optic string are strategically placed in the cave, all allowing children to take a moment to themselves to relax and calm their anxiety.

For the children who attend the centre, it is important to have a dedicated space they can go to feel calm and at ease.

The Centre’s Director, Manisha Wiilms, shown left draped in fibre-optic rope, which is a multisensory learning tool that allows children to safely handle and play with light and it has a gentle, relaxing effect with many therapeutic benefits for children. Wiilms is thrilled with the Cave, having always dreamed of a calm space that the children know they can go to if they are feeling overwhelmed.

The Cave is the result of hard work, partnerships, planning by OSNS and a grant of more than $9,000 provided by the Community Foundation of the South Okanagan Similkameen (CFSOS).

[SSB]